The debt ceiling is not about paying past bills. On a forward looking basis, if government revenue exceeded expenses (due to lower expenses, higher revenue or both), there would be a lowering of debt and therefore no need to raise the debt ceiling.
Additionally, every time I see mention of invoking the 14th Amendment, I see an ellipsis as opposed to the actual wording. “The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any state shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.“. Debts above the debt ceiling could reasonably be determined as not “authorized by law”
The debt ceiling debate has occurred 104 times in the nation’s history. Politicians and partisans run around like Henny Penny saying the US will default on its debt. But we are now 104 for 104 in resolving this issue. Enough with crisis talk.
Revenue in FY 2023 was a new record $4.9 trillion. And not by a little. It was 17% higher than the previous record set in FY 2022. We have a spending problem. Government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take away everything you have.
The debt ceiling is not about paying past bills. On a forward looking basis, if government revenue exceeded expenses (due to lower expenses, higher revenue or both), there would be a lowering of debt and therefore no need to raise the debt ceiling.
Additionally, every time I see mention of invoking the 14th Amendment, I see an ellipsis as opposed to the actual wording. “The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any state shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.“. Debts above the debt ceiling could reasonably be determined as not “authorized by law”
The debt ceiling debate has occurred 104 times in the nation’s history. Politicians and partisans run around like Henny Penny saying the US will default on its debt. But we are now 104 for 104 in resolving this issue. Enough with crisis talk.
Revenue in FY 2023 was a new record $4.9 trillion. And not by a little. It was 17% higher than the previous record set in FY 2022. We have a spending problem. Government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take away everything you have.